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Divorced by the Alpha, Crowned as Queen #AVS
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Short filmTranscript
00:00you want him to think you're dead perform a soul-severing ritual on me you want him to think
00:05you're dead yes the full moon glared down at the birthing altar a contraction ripped through me so
00:15hard my spine arched off the stone dominic squeezed my hand almost there selena my mate
00:22my alpha bound to me by the union goddess herself the pack priest walked in carrying a silver tray
00:27i offered my arm for the pain relief the needle pierced my skin but it wasn't medicine the
00:32pungent scent hit my nose wolfsbane i looked at dominic he wasn't surprised he was checking his
00:38watch vivian's water just broke delay her for two hours our true heir needs to be born first he turned
00:45and walked away didn't look back i tried to scream i wanted my wolf to tear free and lunge after
00:51him
00:52but the wolfsbane was already working my wolf was dragged under my voice died in my throat
00:57and my pup halfway into the world stopped moving frozen inside me by her own father's command
01:02two pack guards dragged me down into the dungeon beneath the temple a place for rogues war prisoners
01:08and wolves sentenced to death now it held the alpha's fated mate and his unborn child
01:14a single rune lamp flickered on the wall straw on the floor no bed i slid down the freezing stone
01:20wall
01:21hands clutching my belly she was still kicking faint frantic mommy's here mommy's here three months ago
01:29dominic's older brother marcus died in a territorial dispute
01:40his mate vivienne was carrying a boy a pure blood alpha air the only pup you could inherit
01:46mine was a girl girls couldn't inherit the moment the ultrasound confirmed it the entire blackwood pack
01:53abandoned us both heels clicked down the corridor cassandra blackwood dominic's sister the pack beta
02:04she stood outside the iron bars twirling a silver dagger the blade dragged along the bars metal screeching
02:10celine don't blame my brother vivienne is carrying marcus's post-morious son a pure blood alpha air the
02:18only pup in our generation who can inherit the alpha title it doesn't matter how early you give birth
02:24you're carrying a girl girls can't inherit you know that a contraction slammed into me the wolfsbane
02:30pushed the labor down my body fought back two forces tore me apart from the inside
02:36get the priest the baby is coming please the wolfsbane will last another three hours
02:44vivian has already been taken to the birthing altar you'll stay here and wait if she starts howling
02:50gag her don't let the noise reach upstairs don't scare viviana
03:01i looked down my dress was soaked in blood all i could see was dominic's face when he turned away
03:07his eyes held no guilt just cold calculation i dragged myself to the cell door then i punched
03:12the cell door hard again and again until my skin split open somebody help i'm in labor save my baby
03:20shut up if it dies that's its fate a girl with no inheritance rights her death won't affect the pack
03:27my blood-stained hands slid off the cell door i collapsed into a pool of my own blood this wasn't
03:33fate someone was murdering my child just as my vision began to blur the heavy door crashed open
03:40she stopped to holden the pack doctor the moment he saw me all the colors drained from his face
03:46luna what are you doing here domic said you were resting in the moonstone lounge fully dilated water
03:53broke you're losing too much blood the wolf of spain is still suppressing your healing
03:58guards the luna is hemorrhaging only echoes answered no one came he tried his comm stone
04:05nothing the dungeon's warding runes blocked all signals gritting his teeth he scooped me up and ran
04:11an aging beta carrying a bleeding woman up three flights of stone stairs every jolt sending agony
04:17through my pelvis he burst onto the ground floor ran for the medical wing kicked open the door and froze
04:24he kicked open the door and froze everything was gone stripped bare every moonstone crystal
04:30runestone potion gone how i checked inventory this afternoon cassandra strolled down the hall
04:38two omega attendants followed behind her we moved to the third floor vivian's c-section is high risk
04:44she needs the best resources her gaze drifted to me drenched in blood half dead in dr holden's arms
04:50she smiled i knew that smile six months ago she'd worn it downtown linking her arm through mine
04:56selena you're the best luna i've ever met you're more like a real sister to me the antique moonstone
05:02necklace i gave her still rested against her collarbone it glowed softly in the dim hallway and
05:07made her smile look monstrous dr holden laid me on a bare stone cot he tore open every cabinet and
05:14draw empty not a single herb i'm sorry luna i have nothing relax once vivian is done the supplies will
05:23be returned what's the rush her gaze dropped to my belly besides you were nothing but a breeding machine
05:30from the beginning and you couldn't even produce the right product dr holden stepped in front of me
05:36this is murder cassandra two lives a smile vanished mothers and pups die in childbirth every day
05:43dystedia hemorrhage healing failure perfectly natural causes of death no one will say a damn thing
05:49and this is blackwood family business you're a contract beta doctor know your place she snapped
05:55at the guards drag him to the third floor vivian needs him i'll handle her two guards grabbed dr holden
06:02he thrashed against them screaming over his shoulder luna press your stomach shard the wolf hard fight the
06:08wolf bond the baby still has a heartbeat you can still save her cassandra slammed the door then pulled
06:15out a comb stone dominic's face appeared in the holographic screen behind him the birthing altar
06:20blazed with light priests moved in and out nurses swarmed around vivian dominic selena looks like she's
06:27about to deliver want to see dominic's eyes shifted to me one glance like i was trashed by the roadside
06:34stop messing around savina vivian isn't doing well the baby's heart rate dropped twice cassandra moved the
06:42stone closer making sure the screen clearly showed my dying form but look she's bleeding a lot doesn't
06:47she look like she's dying tell her to wait once vivian is done i'll send a priest down cassandra
06:52pocketed the stone you heard him vivian is the priority marcus's son is the priority you were
06:58nothing i closed my eyes stopped looking at her my hand crept behind my back fingers finding the tiny
07:04raised bump on my left hip it looked like a mole it wasn't a blood seal rune my father had
07:10carved
07:10it into my skin on my wedding day with his own alpha blood his voice echoed in my head selena
07:15the
07:15waters in the blackwood family may run deeper than you know if the day ever comes when you need help
07:20bite your finger and let one drop of blood fall on this rune no matter where you are someone will
07:25reach you within 30 minutes i had laughed and pushed his hand away dad you're being dramatic dominic
07:31treats me so well i'm his mate the moon goddess chose him for me how could he ever hurt me
07:37my father
07:38had been silent for a long time then he only said one thing the moon goddess binds the souls selena
07:44but she doesn't bind the heart i was such a fool blood welled on my fingertip i let it fall
07:49on the
07:53rune 30 minutes i looked at the blood pooling beneath me my baby's heartbeat was still there hold on
07:59please hold on the wolf's bane suppression broke every contraction that had been held back for hours hit
08:04at once like a damn collapsing wave after wave faster harder i screamed the sound ricocheted off
08:10stone walls an omega attendant rushed in checked me and went white fully dilated the heads crowning
08:17hemorrhage we need moonstone crystals healing rooms anything cassandra didn't even step into the room
08:21then let them die it's just a girl completely useless alive she's a waste of space
08:30dead changes nothing she turned and walked away the attendant tried but i had no blood left no
08:36strength no wolf my muscles wouldn't obey me the baby was stuck in the birth canal i could feel her
08:41heartbeat getting weaker slower fading my vision went black i am sorry baby mommy tried a deafening
08:48wolf howl tore through the night the entire blackwood territory shook the protective wards flared violently
08:54across the walls then shattered a booming blast rocked the building centuries of blackwood enchantments
09:00destroyed in seconds moonlight flooded the room in that silver light stood a massive man in tactical
09:06combat gear he ripped off his helmet battle scarred face cold silver eyes eyes that had witnessed countless
09:16massacres and never flinched but the moment they found me they turned bloodshot garrett my father's head
09:22better the man who caught me every time i fell learning to walk who shifted into wolf form and
09:27slept beside my bed when i was afraid of the dark who stood at the very back of my wedding
09:32silent
09:32jaw locked eyes red because he already knew he crossed the room in one stride and dropped to one knee
09:38the stone floor cracked under the impact princess i am late behind him stood 12 heavily armored warriors
09:47silver eyes weapons drawn the elite shadow fang guard blackwood guards lay unconscious in the hall
09:52the omega attendant screamed this is blackwood territory who are you how did you get it garrett
09:58didn't look at her he was already lifting me off the cot one arm beneath my knees the other cradling
10:03my
10:03head as gently as if i were made of glass blackwood soon there won't be a blackwood the shadow fang
10:11warriors moved with terrifying efficiency from the moment the captain picked me up to the second i was
10:16loaded into an armored pack ambulance waiting just outside the borders barely four minutes have passed
10:21four minutes i had bled in that dungeon for hours begging for help and no one came shadow fang
10:27shattered the territory's defenses and extracted me in four minutes inside the medical transport emergency
10:32moonstone arrays flared to life bathing my body in pure silver light blood pressure critically low
10:38blood loss exceeds the lethal threshold by three times fetal distress is severe heart rate is under 60
10:44and dropping we must perform an emergency c-section right now but her vitals can't handle surgery
10:49do it the captain's roar rattled the walls of the ambulance every medic flinched he gripped my hand
10:55his knuckles white veins bulging up his forearms i'll take full responsibility cut her open i squeezed
11:02his fingers back using the absolute last shred of my strength garrett garrett save the baby save the
11:11baby first garrett my father's head beater the man who had guarded me since the day i was born when
11:17i
11:17was learning to walk and fell he was the one who picked me up when i was terrified of the
11:21dark he
11:22shifted into his wolf form and slept beside my bed the entire night on the day i got married he
11:26stood at
11:26the very back of the crowd completely silent his eyes red now he was kneeling beside my stretcher
11:32his combat armor stained with blackwood blood his silver eyes completely bloodshot princess don't
11:37speak save your strength his voice trembled but he gritted out every word like a blood oath the alpha
11:44is on his way he'll be here soon you and the pup will be fine i swear it on my
11:48life before he could
11:49finish the moonstone array above the operating table violently flickered the vital sign monitors erupted
11:55into a shrill piercing uninterrupted scream cardiac arrest the luna's heart has stopped push the
12:04moonlight essence start the recitation ronin fetal heart rate is plummeting 70 50 30 scalpel now the
12:13medics shoved garrett out of the way he stumbled back into the corner of the ambulance clenching his
12:17fists so hard his claws tore through his own palms blood dripping onto the metal floor the surgeon sliced
12:23open my abdomen with a room carved scalpel silver energy flooded the incision forcibly cauterizing
12:28the bleeding they were draining the absolute limits of their healing stones just to keep my soul
12:32tethered to my body essence injected heartbeat is faint but back where's the pup found her extract pull
12:40her out the umbilical cate is wrapped around her neck damn it the wolfsbane choked off her oxygen in the
12:45womb for too long she's out she's out they pulled a baby from my womb but she didn't cry in
12:52the final
12:52second before the darkness swallowed me entirely i forced my eyes open my vision was a massive blur of
12:58blinding silver light but i saw it through the haze the doctor held a tiny blood covered infant in his
13:04hands she wasn't moving she wasn't breathing she didn't cry the voices faded faded into an abyss of
13:10static the last thing i heard was garrett a battle-hardened warrior in his 40s covered in 37
13:16scars a man who had ripped the throats out of hundreds of rogues collapsing into the corner of
13:21the ambulance and silently weeping i woke up to the harsh smell of medical bleach mixed with the crisp
13:26ozone scent of moonstone crystals the princess is awake someone shouted in relief several faces crowded my
13:34vision familiar faces my father's personal elite guards uncles who had watched me grow up
13:40garrett stood closest to the bed his jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek
13:45his eyes rimmed with red seeing me open my eyes his lips parted but no words came out
13:50he just gave me one stiff trembling nod
13:55a figure standing at the foot of my bed slowly turned around my father voice my father the current
14:00alpha of the shadow fang pack the absolute ruler of the oldest most lethal werewolf bloodline on the
14:06north american continent in the entire werewolf world his name alone made other alphas bow their
14:11heads in submission he was 54 his posture as straight as a spear i had never seen him slouch but
14:18right now his hair was completely white overnight he had gone totally gray he walked over and sat on
14:23the edge of my bed he took my hand in his his hands were massive calloused scarred from decades of
14:29war
14:29these hands had snapped the necks of his enemies and signed treaties that dictated the fates of millions of
14:34wolves right now they were shaking selena he choked on my name he bowed his head in my entire life
14:40i
14:40had never seen this man bow his head not when facing the interrogations of the seven alpha council
14:46not when executing traitors with his bare hands not even when he stood before my mother's grave for
14:51an entire night but now looking at me he bowed his head she's gone isn't she i looked at him
14:59and i knew
15:00the answer my father nodded a single scalding tear fell from his face onto the back of my hand
15:08the hemorrhage placental abtruction the wolf bait in her bloodstream she was deprived of oxygen for too
15:14long the doctors did everything the moonlight essence the healing stones the ancient bloodline
15:19resurrection rituals we couldn't bring her back the room fell dead silent the only sound was the low
15:25steady hum of the medical crystals i closed my eyes that tiny life that had lived inside me for
15:31nine months the pup that kicked my ribs the pup that made me run to the bathroom three times a
15:36night
15:36the little wolf who would instantly calm down the second i rubbed my belly and whispered mommy's here
15:42gone where is dominic my father lifted his head and wiped his face who at the blackwood pack by vivian's
15:49side she gave birth a boy pure blood alpha lineage the entire blackwood pack is throwing a massive
15:55celebration for their new heir they held the moonlight recognition ceremony the old alpha hosted it
16:00himself right before he died not a single person thought of you not a single person asked if you were
16:06dead or alive i laughed my chest heaved as a broken hysterical laugh tore out of my throat the mate
16:13bond
16:13was still pulsing faintly in my chest i could feel dominic's heartbeat steady joyful untroubled he was
16:21smiling he was celebrating his fated mate had nearly bled to death in a dungeon and his daughter was a
16:27corpse and he was celebrating good that's good my father tightened his grip on my hand selena come home
16:35with me blackwood pack doesn't deserve you dad i need you to do something for me anything perform a
16:46soul-severing ritual on me my father froze the soul-severing ritual one of the darkest most ancient
16:53forbidden arts of the shadow fang bloodline it artificially severed a mate bond forcing the other
16:58party to experience the exact physical sensation of their mate dying the stopping of the heart the
17:03shredding of the soul the permanent snapping of the bond to the person on the receiving end it felt
17:08exactly like their mate had perished you want him to think you're dead yes the soul-severing ritual took
17:14place on the obsidian altar deep within the shadow fangs ancestral lands midnight a new moon pitch black
17:21it was the only time we could deceive the moon goddess's gaze i lay on the cold stone surrounded by
17:27four of
17:27our oldest priests their chanting was deep guttural vibrating with the ancient lost tongue of the first
17:33wolves my chest pounded violently it was dominant heart beat eating inside me clear across a thousand
17:39miles the high priest pressed his palm against my sternum the runes flared blinding white and then an
17:46invisible silver spike was viciously ripped out of my heart the mate bond is a tether woven into the soul
17:51severing it felt like two deeply intertwined trees being violently ripped apart by their roots i clamped my
17:57teeth together refusing to scream in my mind's eye i saw glowing golden threads the physical
18:02manifestation of our bonds snapping one by one turning into ash when the final thread broke my
18:08chest went completely hollow a terrifying absolute emptiness like someone had reached into my rib cage
18:14and carved out my heart leaving nothing but a gaping void the ritual was complete from this second onward
18:20in dominic's mind and soul i was dead this meanwhile a thousand miles away in the heart of blackwood
18:26territory dominic stood proudly at the main altar accepting the congratulatory toasts from his pack
18:31members without warning it felt as if an invisible claw had just plunged into his chest and ripped it
18:37open the bond snapped he crashed to his knees his hands desperately clawed at his own chest his nails
18:43digging so deep into his own flesh that blood poured out over his shirt a primal guttural roar of pure
18:49agony
18:49exploded from his throat cassandra shoved through the panicked crowd
18:55brother what's wrong dominic convulsed on the marble floor his claws scraping sickeningly against the stone
19:01selena she's dead the bond just broke she's dead cassandra's face drained of color for a split second
19:10but only a second brother calm down she was always going to get the away from me
19:15dominic backhanded her so hard she went backward crashing violently into the altar pillars
19:20he scrambled to his feet stumbling and sprinting wildly out of the temple
19:25the dungeon was empty there was nothing left but a massive coagulated pool of blood and a soaked pile
19:31of straw and the rapidly fading scent of selene lingering in the damp air dominic stood frozen in the
19:37center of the blood pool he stood there for a very very long time long enough for cassandra to
19:42finally creep into the room and gingerly touch his arm brother you locked her in here
19:52i just told her to wait wait for what wait to die those were two lives my mate my pup
20:02cassandra
20:03took a step back but she was having a girl she was useless to the pack the sharp crack of
20:09flesh
20:09meeting flesh echoed through the dungeon cassandra's head whipped to the side a bright red handprint
20:14instantly welling up on her cheek she clutched her face staring at dominic in total disbelief
20:20dominic glared at her if i had been by her side she wouldn't have died
20:24if you hadn't taken all the medical supplies she wouldn't have died
20:29if i hadn't ordered them to inject her with wolf faith he couldn't finish the sentence because the
20:34subject of that sentence was pre-sendland from start to finish he made every single decision cassandra
20:40was just the executioner the person who murdered selene and their child was him i spent the next
20:45few weeks recovering in the shadowfang estate my body healed agonizingly slowly the wolf spain residue
20:51severely crippled my cellular regeneration and the pack doctor estimated it would take three months to
20:55completely purge it from my system but i wasn't in a hurry i had all the time in the world
21:00my father
21:01ate with me and walked with me every day treating me exactly like he did when i was a little
21:05girl
21:05he never brought up the blackwoods but i knew his intelligence network never stopped spinning
21:11shadowfang's eyes and ears were buried in every major pack in north america that was the terrifying
21:16power of an ancient bloodline every meeting every decision every hushed conversation the blackwoods
21:22had was transcribed and placed on my desk dominic had brought my corpse a flawlessly forged illusion
21:27created by the soul severing ritual back to the blackwood manor he didn't place the casket in the
21:33main hall it was shoved into a side morning room vivienne and her son had already moved into the alpha's
21:39master suite they were surrounded by wet nurses guards and priests around the clock elder blackwood had
21:46issued his final decree before his stroke keep the funeral brief and simple do not bring bad luck to
21:52the newborn heir find a random day to bury her coffin in the family cemetery she was a luna so
21:59make the
21:59grave look decent he dressed it up in polite words but the translation was clear dispose of the dead woman
22:06quickly the living air is the only future this pack has romanic didn't argue he sat in the morning room
22:13guarding the casket three days and three nights no food no water cassandra tried to talk to him
22:21but he threw her out vivienne eventually walked in cradling the baby dominic my condolences
22:30selena is with the moon goddess now she wouldn't want to see you like this do you know what she
22:37was
22:37thinking about dominic slowly lifted his head and stared at her right before she died
22:45she was wondering why her alpha wasn't with her why everyone was waiting for your baby to be born
22:51and no one gave a single damn if she lived or died dominic what is that supposed to mean
22:56i practically died on that table too yes you went through a lot dominic interrupted his voice dead
23:03but she died two corpses
23:10just because the pup in her stummy didn't have a dick they deserved to die as she turned to leave
23:15she threw one last sentence over her shoulder don't forget dominic my son is the one continuing
23:21the blackwood bloodline now dead people are useless vivienne the absolute decimation of the blackwood
23:28pack began in the second week first their territorial alliances collapsed the silver crest pack allies
23:36with the blackwoods for three generations abruptly terminated their treaties when dominic sent iron
23:42boys to negotiate the gates were slammed in their faces an anonymous dossier was submitted to the seven
23:48alpha council it detailed the blackwood packs use of wolfsbane on their luna her illegal imprisonment and
23:54the deliberate denial of medical care during labor every single accusation was a heavy felony under pack law
24:00the council dispatched inquisitors to occupy blackwood territory for a month panics swept through their
24:07subordinate packs and one by one they defected seeking asylum with rival alpha families next their
24:14resources were completely severed the blackwoods had monopolized the moonstone mines for generations
24:20suddenly the neighboring pack upstream dammed the mystical rivers without the spiritual water nourishing
24:26the land the moonstone yield plummeted to zero moonstone crystals were the blackwood pack's entire economy
24:33when production halted their trade routes snapped and their finances instantly went bankrupt
24:39in less than a month the blackwoods devolved from the top three powerhouse on the east coast into an
24:45isolated quarantined bankrupt starving pack elder blackwood was so enraged that his inner wolf went rogue
24:53during a forced shift his blood vessels ruptured he suffered a massive stroke and collapsed
24:58this time there was no saving him save the pack the air the bloodline and then he died
25:11yep almost no one attended his funeral those who did only showed up to sneer dominic stood by the coffin
25:18like a stone statue completely expressionless when the last guest left he turned to vivienne take the kid
25:25and leave the blackwood territory vivienne shrieked what did you just say i'll give you a safe house
25:32outside our borders and enough cash to live comfortably for the rest of your lives get out i'm your sister
25:38in law this boy carries marcus's blood the elder named him the sole heir heir to what dominic chuckled a
25:45dark mocking sound a pack that's being liquidated by the council a territory that's about to be butchered
25:51and divided among our rivals vivienne glared at him then let out a sharp cold love don't
25:58bullshit me dominic you're not doing this out of guilt for selena you're just terrified terrified
26:03of what of those black wolves that stormed the dungeon that night you're terrified of whatever
26:09monstrous fact was backing you selena you know they're coming back you're kicking me out so you
26:15can wash your hands of us and save your own skin she adjusted the baby in her arms and sneered
26:20as
26:20she walked to the door she paused to spit out one final insult you weren't so scared when you ordered
26:26the price to inject wolfbark into her veins dominic stood alone in the empty morning hall he didn't say
26:32a word because she was absolutely right i sat in the study of the shadowfang estate flipping through
26:38the latest intelligence reports my father walked in holding a cup of tea the council has ruled to strip
26:44the black hoods of two-thirds of their territory the core sector they have left won't survive six
26:50months i closed the file faster than i predicted my father sat down staying quiet for a moment selena
27:00is it enough i looked up i don't pity my father clarified i just don't want you trapped in this
27:05darkness vengeance is a double-edged blade hold it too long and it'll slice your own hand i stood up
27:11and
27:11walked to the window beyond the glass stretched the vast jagged mountains of the shadowfang ancestral
27:15lands the moonlight spilled over the pine forests turning the world into an ocean of silver i stepped
27:21out of the darkness the second my daughter died right now i'm just collecting a debt my father looked
27:28at me his eyes full of complex sorrow you've changed you used to smile so much now even your smiles
27:35look
27:36hollow i didn't turn around some people take a lifetime to grow up some people just need one
27:41betrayal my father didn't argue he set the teacup down and quietly left the room my phone buzzed
27:47our shawuzi it was dominic more accurately it was him calling the old comms and frequency
27:52dead selene shadowfang's texem witches had kept the line open and grafted it to my secure device
27:58i didn't say a word his rasky broken voice bled through the speaker selena i know you can't hear me
28:07but i don't know who else to talk to anymore he sounded like he had been swallowing glass the
28:11background was dead silent he was probably sitting in the morning hall again the pack is finished the
28:15territory is gone our allies ran and the council report drops next week they're probably going to
28:19strip my alpha title my father is dead viviane left cass hates me it's just me left i'm the only
28:26one left in the whole territory a long suffocating silence i keep thinking if i hadn't let them inject you
28:34with wolf feign that night would you still be alive if i had just left you half of the moonstone
28:38crystals would your wolf have healed if i wasn't so damn greedy wanting the perfect air wanting the
28:42alpha seat wanting absolute control over everything would you still be here would you still be rubbing
28:49your belly laughing and telling she was kicking again another silence then a microscopic muffled sob
28:56but there are no ifs you're dead our pup is dead and i did it i could live for a
29:04thousand lifetimes
29:05and never pay off this debt the line clicked dead i sat in the moonlight gripping the phone outside the
29:13wind tore through the pine trees rustling the branches after a very long time i put the phone
29:18down on the desk the black screen reflected my face totally blank not a single tear his three
29:26months later my body was entirely healed the wolf bay was purged from my veins my cellular regeneration
29:31was operating at maximum capacity and my wolf had finally woken up she was quieter than before
29:38but vastly more lethal my father was waiting for me in the study on the mahogany desk lay a single
29:43document the official transfer of the shadow fan alpha title are you ready i'm ready he nodded
29:50sliding the papers towards me sign this and you are the next alpha of the shadow fang pack the apex
29:57predator of the seven ancient bloodlines of north america are you absolutely certain once you walk
30:03this path there is no turning back i picked up the pen and signed my name without a fraction of
30:07hesitation
30:07the second the ink dried a terrifying surge of raw power exploded from the floorboards
30:12rocketing up my spine and flooding every cell in my body the shadow fang bloodline was acknowledging me
30:17the earth of our ancestral lands was answering me outside the window massive thousand-year-old pine
30:22trees violently trembled in unison emitting a low groaning hum as if bowing to their new alpha
30:27my father looked at me his eyes slightly red but he smiled you look just like your mother from that
30:33day on i officially took over the shadow fang empire to the outside world i was the new alpha
30:37operating under the alias silver no one knew silver was selena no one knew the discarded
30:43murdered luna of the blackwood pack was actually the reigning queen of north america's deadliest
30:47werewolf syndicate i stopped paying attention to the black keys collapse i didn't need to anymore
30:54dominic had liquidated the last scraps of their territory and formally disbanded the pack
31:00a dynasty that had ruled for five generations completely ceased to exist in three months
31:08he lived alone in the crumbling backward manner the council allowed him to keep the house as a final
31:13sliver of mercy for a former alpha he only did two things every day drink and sit in front of
31:23my
31:23gravestone sometimes he talked sometimes he just stared garrett's intelligence reports noted that he
31:31had lost nearly 30 pounds his hair was mostly white and his mental state was completely shattered the
31:38backlash of the severed mate bond was slowly rotting him from the inside out insomnia auditory hallucinations
31:45the inability to shift into his war form uncontrollable violent outbursts who took symptoms of an alpha
31:52whose mate had been ripped from the soul a mild case could survive for a few years a severe case
31:58wouldn't last a year dominic was the most severe case possible because our bond didn't break through
32:04natural death it was violently amputated by a dark magic the room was infinitely deeper the rot was
32:11infinitely faster princess should we intervene at this rate of decay he has six months max no intervention
32:22this is his debt to pay month six a freezing late autumn night i had just finished signing off on
32:30the day's operations and stood by the study window staring out at the mountain ridges
32:36princess princess he went to your grave again he goes every day
32:44tonight is different
32:47he brought a silver dagger a silver dagger to awolf that wasn't a weapon it was an execution tool
32:54if silver pierced the heart the healing factor was instantly neutralized
32:59death was absolute it was the only foolproof method of suicide for our kind
33:05what is he doing sitting in front of the headstone holding the blade he hasn't moved yet it looks like
33:12he's hesitating or waiting for something i looked up at the sky tonite was a full moon exactly nine months
33:21ago under a full moon i lay on the birthing altar while he casually ordered them to pump wolfsbane into
33:26my veins
33:28nine months the exact time it took to carry a child to term get the car ready
33:37princess i'm going to see him one last time and then this is completely finished
33:45the cemetery at midnight the blackwood family graveyard was situated on a sloping hill at the edge of the old
33:51territory surrounded by pines the moonlight bled through the branches scattering silver shards
33:57across the grass i stood deep in the shadows watching dominic he was sitting in front of my
34:04gravestone he was so emaciated he barely looked human his cheekbones jutted sharply against his gaunt
34:10face his eye sockets were sunken hollows he wasn't even 40 but he looked like an old man
34:17he gripped the silver dagger the blade glinting with a lethal icy white glare the doctor says my wolf is
34:23dying the bond rot has hit the terminal stage
34:32i can't shift anymore
34:35my healing is gone
34:38i'm no better than a human now no i'm worse than a human
34:45humans don't have nightmares every single night of their mates screaming their name in a pool of
34:50blood he raised the dagger staring at his own pathetic reflection in the polished silver
34:55i thought about a lot of ways to die but a wolf should die by silver the most dignified thing
35:02i'll
35:02ever do is die like a werewolf he pressed the tip against his chest right over his heart
35:08savine i'm coming let me be a dog in my next life you can kick me you can curse me
35:15just please
35:17don't let me he squeezed his eyes shut his hands shaking as he prepared to thrust the blade
35:21i kicked a pebble the sharp clack echoed loudly in the dead silent graveyard dominic's eyes snapped
35:27open the tip of the blade had just pierced his skin a thin line of blood trickling down his shirt
35:33who's there he scrambled up turning toward the sound the moonlight shifted illuminating my face
35:39he saw me the silver dagger slipped from his trembling fingers burying itself into the dirt
35:45you
35:46his lips quivered uncontrollably he looked like a man whose sanity had just snapped it's me
35:54i'm not dead surprised he stood absolutely paralyzed bolted to the earth his eyes flooded with
36:01tears he lunged forward trying to pull me into his arms garrett instantly stepped in front of me
36:07planting a massive hand on dominic's chest and giving him a slight shove dominic staggered backward
36:12like a dead leaf nearly tripping over his own feet six months ago he was an alpha now he couldn't
36:18even
36:18withstand a casual push from a beater saliva you're alive i knew it the bond broke but i could still
36:27feel it he tried to sidestep garrett but three more shadowfang guards instantly materialized from the
36:32tree line boxing him in only then did he realize who i had brought i killed four warriors in pitch
36:38black
36:38tactical armor all with silver irises all wearing the shadow fang crest on their chests his expression
36:43shifted from hysterical joy to confusion to a slow creeping terrifying realization who are they
36:50my men dominic stared at me he looked at me from head to toe and my own eyes were faintly
36:54glowing
36:55silver in the dark the absolute mark of an awakened ancient bloodline alpha i look nothing like the
36:59submissive fragile omega wife you remember who the hell are you he choked out his whole body shaking let
37:03me reintroduce myself i stared down at him my tone as polite and detached as if i was speaking to
37:08a
37:08stranger celine ashfield direct bloodline heir to the shadow fang pack current reigning alpha queen
37:14the apex predator of the seven ancient bloodlines dominic whispered his mind breaking as if responding
37:20to my presence the moonlight suddenly intensified blazing down on us behind me my four elite guards
37:30simultaneously
37:34they dropped to one knee lowering their heads in absolute submission dominic stumbled backward
37:41one step two steps until his spine slammed against my gravestone impossible you said you
37:46were rogue an orphan no pack no
37:54family i lied my father forbade me from marrying you he said a black pit wasn't worthy of wiping
37:58dirt of the shadow
38:03no fox boots i didn't listen i threw a tantrum and forced his hand looking back every single word he
38:09said was right
38:16no no no so everything that happened to the blackwoods over the past six months
38:22the territory lost the allies betraying us the council sanctions my father orchestrated it i simply chose not
38:27to stop him or why didn't you tell me who you were his voice suddenly skyrocketed cracking like
38:33tearing fabric if you had told me you were the shadow falk air i would what i cut him off
38:38smoothly
38:39you would have treated me better you wouldn't have pumped wolf bean into my veins you wouldn't have locked
38:45me in a dungeon to bleed out think very carefully before you answer that dominic from the very
38:51beginning all you wanted was an easily manipulated powerless mate with zero backing
38:56someone you could sacrifice whenever it became convenient if you had known i was the shadow fane air
39:01you would have been too terrified to even look in my direction
39:05you probably would have found a way to magically sever the bond before i even got pregnant just so you
39:10could
39:10trade me out for a more obedient luna he couldn't say a word because it was the absolute truth
39:16he knew it i knew it the silence stretched on for an eternity long enough for the moon to drift
39:22from
39:22the treetops to the dead center of the sky finally dominic laughed a very quiet hollow laugh the sound of
39:28a man completely accepting his own destruction so from start to finish i was just the loser this was never
39:34about winning or losing it's about the two lives you owe and you can't afford to pay he looked at
39:39me
39:40his eyes slowly shifted from agonizing torment to a strange vacant peace the kind of peace a man only
39:46finds when he has absolutely nothing left to lose can i ask you one last question ask
39:55did you even for a single second actually love me the moonlight was quiet the pine forest was quiet
40:03i looked at his skeletal decaying face i couldn't even recognize the man he used to be i thought
40:09back to the library on campus years ago you read a lot he had helped me pick up my dropped
40:13books
40:14flashing a bright warm smile you read a lot huh he had laughed the sunlight hitting his face had felt
40:21so
40:21safe so clean i loved you tears finally spilled over dominic's eyelids tracking down his hollow cheeks
40:29eyes thank you that's enough i turned around and started walking away after three steps i stopped
40:36i didn't look back garrett confiscate his silver dagger yes alpha i kept walking into the dark i didn't stop
40:44again behind me dominic's voice drifted through the freezing wind so faint it sounded like a ghost
40:50i'm sorry celine i didn't turn my head three months later dominic died alone on the floor of the
40:56blackwood manor it was the mate bond rot garrett had taken his dagger but he couldn't confiscate
41:01the festering wound carved into dominic's soul the severed bond was a bleeding gash that could never be
41:07closed devouring his life force day by day first his wolf died completely a werewolf without a wolf was
41:14just a hollow shell like a tree stripped of its roots then his immune system collapsed his senses
41:20deteriorated and his muscles atrophied finally total organ failure according to the last few rogue
41:26omegas who had squatted in the manor it was a full moon the night he died the moonlight spilled through
41:32the skylight painting the floorboard silver he lay on the exact spot in the morning hall where my fake
41:37casket had once been placed he was clutching something in his hand a red hair tie mine when i was
41:43pregnant my hair was always in my face so i constantly tied it back with a dark red ribbon
41:49the night i went into labor it must have slipped off and fallen into the bloody straw in the dungeon
41:54i don't know when he went back to dig it out of the filth but he had held on to
41:58it ever since he
41:59held it until his last breath the omegas said he died very quietly no thrashing no expressions of pain
42:05the corners of his mouth were even slightly turned up like he was smiling or like he had finally finally
42:10been allowed to exhale it when the news reached shadow fang i was in the middle of signing a massive
42:16territorial integration treaty once the ink dried shadow fang would officially annex the resource
42:22networks of the three remaining ancient packs on the east coast cementing us as the absolute supreme
42:27power on the council garrett knocked and stepped into the office he stood silently in front of my desk
42:34hesitating i didn't look up from the paperwork speak dominic blackwood was confirmed dead this morning
42:41mate bond backlash organ failure my pen paused for a fraction of a second understood i closed the file
42:48and handed it to my assistant dispatch this treaty today i want the signatures of the other two alphas
42:53on my desk before next week the assistant bowed and quickly left the room garrett and i were the only
42:59ones left he stood there in silence for a long time alpha queen there's one more thing spit it out
43:07while clearing out his belongings the scavengers found a letter it was explicitly addressed to you
43:12he pulled a weathered envelope from his jacket and placed it on the edge of my desk the envelope was
43:18incredibly frayed and worn around the edges like it had been picked up squeezed and put back down
43:23thousands of times only one word was written on it celine i stared at the envelope i didn't move a
43:30muscle
43:31leave it there garrett nodded turning to walk out at the door he paused alpha queen
43:38what when he passed he was holding your hair tie i picked up the next dossier and flipped it open
43:46i said i understand garrett quietly closed the door the room fell dead silent when outside the window the
43:54jagged peaks of the shadowfang mountains rolled endlessly into the horizon the pine forests swayed in
44:00the wind like a silent violent ocean the moonstone chandelier overhead cast a soft silver glow over
44:06my desk over the envelope celine i stared at my name for a long long time then i casually tossed
44:14it into
44:14the roaring fireplace i watched the paper curl turn black and dissolve into a wisp of white smoke
44:22time kept moving forward under my rule shadowfang grew terrifyingly powerful the territorial alliances
44:28held strong our council seats doubled and the influence of the ancient bloodlines suffocated
44:34every corner of north america my father formerly retired he spent his days planting trees in the
44:40mountains behind the estate training hunting eagles and occasionally shifting into his massive wolf form
44:46to take slow lazy walks through the pines he lived like a completely normal peaceful old man but sometimes
44:53during dinner he would abruptly go quiet he would just stare at me for a long time the moon is
44:58very
44:59bright tonight i knew exactly what he was trying to say outside it was a full moon if my daughter
45:05had
45:06lived she would be one year old then two then three she would be walking she would be calling me
45:13mommy
45:15and on nights with a full moon she would feel her inner wolf stirring for the very first time
45:20she would run up to me grabbing my fingers vibrating with excitement mommy mommy my wolf is moving
45:30i never let myself think about those things i absolutely forbade myself from going there
45:37but the body remembers every single full moon my inner wolf would let out a low mournful whimper deep
45:44inside my chest a mother wolf crying for the pup she failed to protect that kind of pain isn't
45:50cured by time it was exactly like my father said some wounds are forever
45:57outside my window the moon hung heavy and bright
46:01the forest was dead silent the moonlight washed over my hands
46:06over my left ring finger it was completely bare once i had worn the lunar ring of the blackwood pack
46:14there a silver band encrusted with moonstone dominic had personally slid it onto my finger during our
46:21mate binding ceremony on the night of the soul severing ritual the ring had shattered entirely on its own
46:30i had gathered the shards and tossed them into the sacred lake of the shadow fang ancestral lands
46:35they sank to the bottom never to be recovered
46:38they sank to the back
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